The Leather Oaks Garden

Thirty Years of Gardening -- and Frogs!

This Page Updated on March 20th, 2009

The 2007 Photos?

There were many photo sessions in my garden that year, but none of them were what we would call conventional. In other words, I was in every photo, sometimes -- make that almost all of the time -- in some pretty preposterous gear.

Knowing that many garden enthusiasts don't share my other interests, I am showing what I consider to be great restraint in not revealing them here!

If you just have to see for yourself, and you promise not to tell the Gardening World, here's what you do. Write me a nice letter using the e-mail link on the photo at the left. Tell me the colors of my house and roof, and ask for the Main Link to my site.

The 2008 Pond Wall Rebuild

Some of the side effects of Hurricane Katrina are only now becoming evident!

The Leather Oaks Pond has long had a problem with heavy rains. Even though we went to a lot of trouble to prevent rainwater from flooding down the yard and into the pond, it's been harder to control the underground effects.

This page shows the latest and we hope lasting work towards keeping the pond liner in place.

Restoring the Pond Flora and Fauna

The 2008 pond work was so substantial that it was really like starting all over in some respects. We had one more pond statue than before, but only one good-sized fish survived the repeated drainings and wall rebuilding efforts. (He liked Neptune's pond so much, we didn't even move him back.) The photos show the still surprisingly rapid restorative effects of Mother Nature!

The 2008 Schematic Stream Photos

The previous rebuild of the Schematic Stream had not been everything we had hoped for. Many of the pondlets' rims still extended way above the surrounding ground level.

This was forcefully brought to mind when I found a box turtle on his back near one of the raised pondlets! Apparently, he had upended himself when trying to climb out of the water. There being no way to post turtle warning signs, the other alternative was to lower the pondlets so that their rims were as close as possible to ground level.

The photos give pretty nearly the whole story this time of what was a multiple week's project!

Spring 2008 Garden Photos

Since the Pond Tour got blown out by the usual fall hurricanes, I never made a complete set of Garden photos for that season. In their place, here a few shots from interesting angles. You'll recognize Neptune, but I don't believe my Bronze Trio has been seen in public before!

The New Garden Statues

With my retirement at the beginning of 2008, I had indulged a long-held interest in statues of mythical and historic beings. In the future, they may become part of the standard Leather Oaks Garden Tour. But, let's introduce them here!

The Spring 2009 Garden Photos

Even as spring has only begun, this year promises to be an outstanding one for Leather Oaks, the Garden Spot! Despite all of the work done in opening a new excursion railway on the property, (you may want to check out the Rubber and Rawhide section of my site), the weather has been just right to encourage enthusiastic growth!

The Older Garden Pages?

They're all still here, every one of them! From the seventies on Lameuse Street, through the nineties and nought-oughts on Shorecrest Road, you'll get to see my fascination with gardens and ponds grow and flourish.

My good friend Mark designed this showplace frontispiece for my “Home in the City ”. It was a wonderful seventeen years on Lameuse Street, even as we're approaching a similar length of time on Shorecrest Road. Click on the photo to journey with me through those years!